


Traitor

by chainsawdog



Series: Order Abandoned [14]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-13 21:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7138577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chainsawdog/pseuds/chainsawdog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Battle of Kamino, Anakin Skywalker confronts Slick, the clone trooper who betrayed them on Christophsis. Anakin has some questions for him, as well as an offer.</p><p>Following ARC Troopers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“What do you think you’re doing here, _Jedi?_ ” the word was spoken with such venom that Anakin stopped in his tracks.  
  
“Slick,” he said.  
  
The clone trooper who had betrayed them to Asajj Ventress stood behind a transparisteel window. Anakin had slipped through security to find him. There were other ‘defectives’ held prisoner here. Clones who weren’t the soldiers the Republic required. Anakin had heard stories of clones being ‘decommissioned,’ and hadn’t been able to bring himself to look into the truth of those tales.  
  
“What do you want?” Slick asked.  
  
“I wanted to talk to you,” Anakin said quietly. “About what happened. About… what you said. On Christophsis.”  
  
Slick turned away from the glass, crossing his arms. “Oh yeah?” he said. “Where was this interest when I was arrested? It’s been a while, General, since we last spoke. What have you been up to?”  
  
Hatred rang clear in Slick’s tone. His shoulders were set, and Anakin could sense his fury.  
  
His head low, Anakin approached the glass. He moved slowly, trying to appear unthreatening. There were a thousand things running through his mind, but he had thought long about this confrontation.  
  
What he said was; “It's the Jedi who keep my brothers enslaved.”  
  
Anakin glanced at Slick from beneath his eyelashes. His mouth was set in a hard line.  
  
“Do you still believe that?” he asked.  
  
Slick glared at him. Anakin had seen the same face on so many men; men he trusted, but on each of them it was different.  
  
Slick spat on the ground at Anakin’s feet, and it hit the glass.  
  
“Do you still believe that?” Anakin repeated, trying to ignore the blatant disrespect.  
  
“Look around, General,” Slick said, his tone venomous. “How many men died today? How many of my brothers are held here for lesser ‘crimes’ than mine?”  
  
“How did Ventress get to you, if you care so much about your brothers?” Anakin asked, matching Slick’s gaze. “She killed Colt, you know. And your other brothers. All because of the deal you made with her – for credits, Slick.”  
  
Slick glanced away.  
  
“Was it worth it?” Anakin asked quietly.  
  
Slick hit the glass so aggressively that it shuddered. “No!” he shouted. “Of course it fucking wasn’t! Nothing’s changed!” He slammed his fists against the glass, his eyes wild. “You’re killing us, and you don’t care! How many of us have to die before you Jedi are satisfied? How much blood has to be shed before the Republic stops this war?”  
  
“It’s not that simple –”  
  
Slick turned from the glass, his back to Anakin, and crossed his arms. “What do you want, General?” he asked quietly.  
  
“I want to know what I can do,” Anakin replied. “There are Senators trying to change things. Jedi who don’t want to keep fighting. People want peace, Slick, but selling us out wasn’t the way to get it.”  
  
“I didn’t think I’d end the fucking war, Skywalker,” Slick replied, turning back to face him. The fire had gone out of him, and Anakin noticed the bags under his eyes. “I was selfish. I wanted more for myself. But I’m not wrong. My brothers and I are slaves of the Republic. Of the Jedi.”  
  
Anakin clenched his jaw. Slaves. He took a deep breath in, the let it out, feeling some of the tension leave with his breath.  
  
“And I want to change that,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ve been thinking about what you said since Christophsis and… I’ve spoken to Rex. Once or twice. I don’t think you should be in here. I only… I only found out about the ‘defectives’ recently. I had no idea. Everything is going so fast, there’s no time to stop and think, I feel like there’s no way for this war to end peacefully but that’s what I want. I’ve found out some things that have made me wonder exactly how much the Jedi actually know.”  
  
Slick narrowed his eyes. “What things?” he asked.  
  
Anakin glanced away. “I’m not at liberty to say,” he said in a practiced tone.  
  
Anakin couldn’t exactly tell a traitor that there was potentially a Sith Lord working within the Republic. He took another breath in, trying his best to keep his hands still. He was trembling with rage, but he didn’t want Slick to see.  
  
“Well,” said Slick, and Anakin could hear the resignation in his voice. “This is all very interesting, but I don’t see what it has to do with me.”  
  
Anakin looked back up, his gaze steely. “Slick,” he said quietly. “I’m taking you with me when I leave Kamino. If you’ll let me.”  
  
Slick couldn’t mask the surprise that flicked across his face. Then his expression turned stormy, and he scowled.  
  
“Why? So you can use me?”  
  
“I don’t plan on it,” Anakin said. “I was hoping you could help me, actually. For our mutual benefit.”  
  
Slick narrowed his eyes. “That sounds a lot like using me.”  
  
“You want to stay here, then?” Anakin asked.  
  
“What do I get in exchange, Skywalker?”  
  
Anakin bit his lip in thought. “Credits,” he answered, his tone dry.  
  
“Fuck you,” Slick replied.  
  
“A paying job,” Anakin clarified. “Working for a Senator.”  
  
“A clone working for a Senator,” Slick repeated. “That won’t be suspicious.”  
  
“You’ll be disguised,” Anakin explained. “No one will notice you. Blend into the background.”  
  
“And you trust me to do this?”  
  
Anakin laughed. “Not at all,” he replied. “But no one’s gonna notice if you go missing, Slick, especially not since you’ve been declared dead.”  
  
Slick scowled. “You’re not winning me over, Skywalker,” he said.  
  
Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose.  
  
“Why didn’t they send your silver-tongued Negotiator?” Slick asked.  
  
“Because you wouldn’t listen to anything he said, would you?” Anakin said quietly. “If someone famous for talking people into things was sent to convince me of something…”  
  
Slick inclined his head in acknowledgement. “And they thought you were a better choice?”  
  
“There’s no ‘they,’ Slick,” Anakin replied. “It’s me, Obi-Wan and… a Senator. If you come with me, I’ll tell you the details.”  
  
“How would you get me out of here?” Slick asked quietly.  
  
“Disguise you as Rex,” Anakin said. “He’s left Kamino already with Obi-Wan.”  
  
“And then? Once we’re on Coruscant?”  
  
“We’ll change your face, get you into the Senate. You’ll be our ears. We’re looking for a conspirator and we can’t trust anyone so we need an outsider.”  
  
“One you can trust?” Slick asked, raising an eyebrow. He sounded amused.  
  
“I can just leave you here if you don’t want the job.”  
  
“How do you know I won’t betray you?”  
  
“If you do,” Anakin said simply, “I’ll kill you myself.”  
  
Slick thought for a moment. Then, “Get me out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the incredible comic [Star Wars Destinies](http://swdestinies.tumblr.com/chapters) where I think I _might_ have picked up the idea of clones being decommissioned because I can't find it in canon.


	2. Chapter 2

Anakin’s fingers drummed nervously against the hilt of his lightsaber as Slick finished putting on his disguise. His heart was in his mouth – Slick looked like Rex, but he didn’t carry himself like the Captain. Rex walked with a self-assured confidence befitting of his rank. Slick walked like a wary animal, certain that he was going to be attacked at any minute. When Slick was done, Anakin looked him up and down critically.  
  
“Well?” said Slick, holding out his arms.  
  
“Don’t talk to anyone,” said Anakin. “We’re taking my ship. Come on.”  
  
Anakin led the way, Slick walking beside him but one step behind. No one gave them a second glance. Slick moved closer to Anakin, a frown on his face.  
  
“Won’t they raise the alarm if they find my cell empty?” he asked quietly.  
  
Anakin closed his eyes for a moment, and took a steadying breath. “No,” he said. “I’ve listed you as one of the causalities of the battle. For all intents and purposes, you’re dead. Now shut up.”  
  
They made it to the hangar without incident. Slick climbed into the fighter behind Anakin. Artoo was waiting in the fighter, and whistled at Anakin as he got into the ship.  
  
“I know, buddy,” Anakin replied. “But you gotta keep quiet on this one, okay?”  
  
“You can understand that thing?” Slick asked, as the roof of the ship closed.  
  
“Yeah,” Anakin said, igniting the engine. “Binary’s not that hard to understand.”  
  
Artoo let out a series of beeps and whistles. Anakin laughed.  
  
“What did he say?” Slick asked, narrowing his eyes.  
  
“‘If you’re not stupid,’” Anakin translated.  
  
Slick slumped back in his seat and crossed his arms. “That’s nice,” he grumbled.  
  
“He’s being polite,” Anakin said with a grin. He guided the ship from the hangar into the stormy sky of Kamino, and headed for the planet’s exosphere.  
  
“I find it hard to believe Kenobi was okay with this,” Slick said, as they left Kamino.  
  
“Why?” asked Anakin.  
  
“Isn’t he a stickler for the rules?”  
  
Anakin shrugged with one shoulder, flying towards a hyperspace ring. “Most of the time,” he replied. “But this is for the Republic.”  
  
Slick scrunched his face up in distaste. “Of course,” he said. “I didn’t expect different. So you said you were gonna brief me?”  
  
They attached to the hyperspace ring, and Artoo set the coordinates. As they made the jump, Anakin filled Slick in on the plan. Padmé had come up with most of it; Slick would work on her staff, get to know the people who worked in the Senate building. He was an outsider, and they knew that there would be eyes on him as soon as he started working. Slick wouldn’t wear the face of a clone, either. That would be too suspicious.  
  
“Why don’t you use another clone?” Slick asked. “Why me?”  
  
“Well, I could be nice and say we’re giving you a second chance,” Anakin replied. “But really, people would notice if other clones went missing. And we can’t trust other people, we don’t know where their loyalties lie. So we’re going to trust you.”  
  
“What am I looking for?” Slick asked.  
  
“Anything that seems unusual to you,” Anakin said. They came out of hyperspace with a lurch. Coruscant glittered below, a jewel amongst the stars. Anakin smiled. Coruscant had never felt like home without his family, but they were all there now. He’d be back with them, soon. “If anyone approaches you with strange requests, or if any of the Senators or staff seem off to you… report back to us, but go along with it if you have to.”  
  
Slick smiled grimly. “Play the traitor.”  
  
“Exactly,” said Anakin, and his smile matched Slick’s.


End file.
